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If Continental Combines With United, They'd Oust Delta As World's Largest Carrier
Continental Airlines has made a pretty smooth transition over to the Star Alliance. We’ve been talking about them dumping their former pals at SkyTeam for some new friends for quite a bit, but now the airline might just be rekindling an old flame.
Rumors from the past have once again been brought to the surface regarding Continental Airlines shacking up with United Airlines. Apparently now that the two major carriers are all cozy with one another in their new alliance they might just want to take their relationship to the next level. The head honcho over at Continental said last week that the airline hasn’t totally ruled out a merger with United Airlines. It looks like US Airways might become the third wheel in this potential airline love triangle.
Tags: Continental / Star Alliance / SkyTeam / Airline News / → All Tags
Continental's Switch To Star Alliance Going About As Smoothly As You'd Expect
So there's no definite window between ending SkyTeam perks and starting Star Alliance sharing, and no absolute date on when code sharing will end. Oh, also Continental has no firm idea for how lounge reciprocity and loyalty points will work. Thankfully The Transnational investigates:
'With our final flight on 24 October, we will leave SkyTeam,' said outgoing Continental CEO Larry Kellner. 'We will be in Star just as fast as we can be after that. We just can't do anything until we get out of SkyTeam to jointly market with Star partners. It won't be seamless; it will be a couple days in transition.'It also requires ending codeshare flights and joint corporate programs. On the former, some code shares with Delta and Northwest already have been discontinued, Kellner said, and 'all drop off [by] the end of July.' 'We have to be careful not to get ahead of ourselves,' he said. 'We aren't ready yet to project when we will be up and running.'
On the plus side, Continental recently installed in-flight TV, so at least they've got that going for them.
Tags: In-Flight Entertainment / Continental / Airline News / Star Alliance / → All Tags
No Need For SkyMall, Continental Committing to In-Flight TV
There’s still a few months before Continental joins their new buddies in the Star Alliance, but they are already putting their new airline family to shame. US Airways and United are certainly not known for their in-flight entertainment offerings, but Continental is pushing forward to make a name for themselves when it comes to television in the sky.
The airline has finished installation of their new DirecTV service on 19 of their Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, which is a good start, but they’ve still got a lot of other planes to get through. They’re hoping to wrap things up by early 2011 on most of their domestic fleet. Just remember that you’ll have to pony up $6 to watch television from the comfort of your coach seat.
Apparently installing in-flight TV is way more expensive that adding the magic that is in-flight WiFi. The CEO of LiveTV reports that installation costs about $1 to $1.5 million per plane, while WiFi usually only costs between $100,000 and $250,000. The television entertainment system also adds about 1,000 pounds to the plane, which of course, costs more at the gas station.
We’ll keep you updated as to when you can ensure your next Continental flight has TV, but for now, keep last season’s 30 Rock ready to go on your iPod.
Related Stories: [Photo: athomson]
· Continental Installing Live Satellite TV on Planes [USA Today]
· Continental Airlines - Status of DirecTV Installation [Official Site]
· Continental coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Airline News / Airlines / Star Alliance / Continental Airlines / SkyTeam / United / → All Tags
Final Approval Comes For Continental To Join Cool Kids of Star Alliance
Late last week Continental Airlines got the final go ahead to leave all their old friends at SkyTeam for the greener pastures of a Star Alliance circle of friends. We knew this was coming, but first they had to make sure the government said it was fine and dandy.
This fall, when the airline falls in with the Star Alliance, we hope all the other airlines make room for them at the cool kids table in the cafeteria. They’ll definitely be trading for Oreos while discussing schedules, marketing, and jointly planned pricing.
Tags: Continental Airlines / Airlines / SkyTeam / Star Alliance / United / Delta / → All Tags
Continental Splits From SkyTeam For United, Star Alliance
Like your drunk friend who thinks everyone should know about her personal drama from her first, Continental Airlines e-mailed all its OnePass members last night to announce it is finally pulling away from the SkyTeam airline alliance and joining the Star Alliance. The official split date is October 24, after which Delta, Air France and KLM will be gathering at Korean Air's house to burn all of Continental's stuff.
The break-up has been a while in the making as Continental announced last year it would partner with United Airlines to fight high fuel costs after flirting with both American and British Airways. Continental had even explored buying the Star Alliance partner but walked away after United revealed greater than expected losses.
Should you cash in your Continental miles now while the gettin's still good, or wait to see what the new partnership can get you? We say redeem 'em now, if you can: The airline announced yesterday it will be cutting service overall by 7 percent after reporting a $266 million fourth-quarter loss.
Related Stories:
· 2008: Continental, United join in code-sharing, frequent-flier pact [USA Today]
· Continental's Switch from SkyTeam to Star [Houston Chronicle Departures blog]
· Continental, US Air Bring Group Loss to $1.35 Billion [Bloomberg News]
[Photo: caribb]
Tags: Airports / PEK / Buildings / Architecture / T3 at PEK / Air China / Star Alliance / → All Tags
New Airports Travel: Beijing's Terminal 3
With our Heathrow and JFK obsessions, the new Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International almost slipped by us. But we're on the case now, with a gallery of renderings from the project's architects, Foster and Partners. The new building will start trial operations on February 29 and will be up to full speed by March 26.
Air China and other Star Alliance partners will anchor the operations out of T3. The building itself will be almost 2.5 miles long and include a train system for moving passengers between its 120 gates. Once on the ground, travelers will have easy access to the city via a rail link with the Beijing subway.
Related Stories:
· China and India Love the Idea of Airports [Jaunted]
· China Gets a New Tallest Building [Jaunted]
· Beijing Olympics coverage [Jaunted]
